The government is proposing changes to the Milk Act that will include adding sheep milk under the Act and developing new regulations for sheep milk production, transport and processing.
Today, sheep milk producers are regulated under the Public Health Act, which does not have an extensive regulatory or inspection regime. The changes proposed by the government will address, “inconsistent regulatory oversight of milk in Ontario”.
The full language of the proposed changes to the legislation can be found here: Proposal to amend the Milk Act and the Food Safety and Quality Act, 2001 with more detail in the included PDF.
Ontario Sheep Farmers is working with the Dairy Sheep Co-operative to coordinate a response from sheep milk producers to the proposed changes to the Milk Act. OSF would also like to hear from producers who are milking sheep and have questions or concerns about the proposed changes to the regulatory environment.